


Partnership

by anotherfngrl



Category: The Losers (2010)
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Asexuality, Gen, Queerplatonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:00:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24316933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anotherfngrl/pseuds/anotherfngrl
Summary: They love each other like Jake and Cougar. It's enough.Or: Jake and Cougar realize they're the only partners they ever need and tell Jake's family.
Relationships: Carlos "Cougar" Alvarez & Jake Jensen, Jake Jensen & Jake Jensen's Niece, Jake Jensen & Jake Jensen's Sister
Kudos: 22
Collections: Bite Sized Bits of Fic from 2020





	Partnership

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhhh feelings!!! I have so many feelings!

"Cougs, it's fine. You've had dinner with my family a million times before. I think Jess likes you more than she likes me at this point," Jake assures him.

"It is because I do the dishes," Cougar tells him sagely. "And never like this, mi primo," he reminds his friend.

"Nothing's really all that different, is it?" Jake asks, rubbing his neck nervously.

"Beth will not get any little cousins, this way. Your sister may wish for you to have a partner-" Cougar explains.

"I _do!"_ Jensen thunders. "I have a partner I want to spend the rest of my life with. Why should it matter if we want to have sex? It's none of her business what we do in the bedroom anyway!"

"She only wants the best for you," Cougar reminds him gently.

"Cougs, you are very much the best thing that has ever happened to me. She's crazy if she doesn't see that. Jess loves you, Beth loves you, I love you. That ought to be enough," Jake laments.

"We are fighting an argument she has not begun. Let us tell her, and see how she responds," Cougar suggests.

"Should we just pretend to be gay? We can pretend to be gay. We're former Spec Ops. We can kiss without looking too weirded out, can't we?" Jensen begs.

"I am not kissing you to lie to your sister," Cougar tells him flatly, offended. Maybe Jake isn't ready for this.

But his friend looks up at him, guilty and unsure. "I'm sorry, Cougs. I'm just scared. I don't want them thinking this is wrong." He leans against Cougar, silently requesting a hug.

Cougar obliges, trying to shield his larger partner in the safety of his arms. "If they think that, we will show them better," he says.

Jake nods, determined, and pulls out of Cougar's protective hug. "We can do this," he says, nodding decisively. They head out to the car, Cougar moving them quickly before Jake changes his mind.

"I can't do this...." the tech genius says as they park in front of his sister's house.

"Then we will not tell them tonight," Cougar assures him, keeping the hurt out of his voice.

Jake hears it anyway. "No! I can do this. I'm just scared, Cougs," he admits.

Cougar squeezes his shoulder and gets out of the car. Jake follows, remembering to grab the chocolate Bundt cake they'd picked up at the grocery store for dessert.

Jessica and Beth greet them warmly.

"Uncle Jake!" Beth cries, flying down the path when he doesn't walk up to the door fast enough.

"Cougar, it's good to see you," Jess tells him.

"Uncle Cougar! Uncle Cougar!" Now, Beth is clinging to _his_ legs, as her mother greets Jake.

Cougar is suddenly shaken by apprehension. Can he bear to lose this? If they do not understand, if they think he is hurting Jake, keeping him from a happy future in some way, can Cougar bear to lose them all? He doesn't think so.

Jake somehow sees his nerves, squeezing his shoulder lightly before scooping Beth up into his arms. She's too big to be carried, now, but her Uncle Jake is strong enough to manage it anyway.

Jessica and Cougar smile and follow them into the kitchen. Jake and Beth are the perfect partners in crime.

They're all still eating when Jake decides he can't take it anymore. "Cougar's my partner," he declares, reaching for a roll to give him something to do with his hands.

"I know...." Jess says slowly. "Wait, like partner? Are you gay?" she asks.

Jake begins shredding the roll. "No. It's not..." He glances at Beth. Settles on, "like that. We're just... Enough."

"Jake is my family," Cougar says, covering the other man's wrist carefully with his own hand. Jake stops destroying the roll to clasp his hand quickly.

"Jamie at school has two daddies," Beth announces.

"It's not quite like that, Bethie. Cougar and I don't love each other like married people. Cougar might even decide he wants to date somebody else. But we love each other... Kind of like your mom and I do. And a little like married people," Jake is floundering.

"We love each other like Jake and Cougar," Cougar says. "And we do not need anybody else. There will be no need Tio's or Tia's from me," he assures Beth, but his eyes are on Jake.

Jake is asexual. Cougar is not, but he is aromantic. He enjoys sex but doesn't crave romantic intimacy- he much prefers the intimacy of a life shared with his best friend. But he knows Jake is still afraid Cougar's need for sex will eventually drive them apart.

"I knew that already," Beth shrugs. "You guys are better at this than half my friends' parents. Why are you telling us?" She seems wholly unconcerned.

Jake gapes at her, so Cougar struggles for words. "We did not name it, until recently. Knowing this is partnership, not just friendship, makes us happy, and we wished to share the happiness with the most important people in our lives."

"You told us first, right?" Beth asks. "Before Uncle Pooch and Aunt Jolene?"

"Very first, Bethie," Jake assures her.

"Okay," Beth decides. "Good. Because Uncle Cougar, I don't know if you know this, but Uncle Jake is a lot of trouble. I'm glad he's your responsibility now."

He looks up and Jake smiles at him, one hand holding Cougar's still and the other clutched in his sister's grip, and she's smiling at them both, happy, because Jake has someone, even if it's not the usual kind of someone she might have expected.

Cougar smiles at the child looking at him so seriously. "I am too, Beth."


End file.
